Months after the major parts of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) installed at runway 18/36 right of the international wing of the Murtala Muhammad Airport (MMA), Lagos, was carted away, the suspects are yet to be revealed.
Information gathered by the Nigerian Tribune indicated that despite the conclusion of the investigations carried out by the committee set up by the permanent secretary of the ministry of aviation, Dr Emmanuel Meribole, the findings by the committee and the identities of the cable thieves were yet to be made public.
The committee that conducted an investigation into the stealing had submitted its findings to the immediate past Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Kabir Mohammed, without any action taken.
The runway cable lights were discovered to have been stolen on July 10, 2023 and seven persons, majorly the Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel on duty on the said day were suspended.
It was learnt that those who carted away the lighting systems carried out the dastardly act with the support of some staff of the agency who used the lacuna created by the closure of the airport runway for over three months by FAAN.
Though the then FAAN management had replaced almost 90 percent of the stolen facilities, nothing had been said about the investigations.
According to a source: “We are almost through with the replacement of the runway lights. As it is, we are about 98 percent gone. The report of the investigative panel was ready and submitted to the former management of FAAN. I think the management acted on it, but the report was not just made public.”
Another stakeholder who spoke under anonymity called for stricter security measures at the sensitive areas to forestall a recurrence, adding that, “For me, it doesn’t speak well of us. Also, it has a safety and security issue. That particular runway is the longest and the most prominently used for international airlines and the act of vandalism has obstructed its use. So, operators are compelled to use the domestic runway.
“When you are subjected to only one runway, we pray we don’t have incursion or any other incident that will now warrant the closure of the only runway. Also, for FAAN, as far as I am concerned, whosoever is responsible for the conduct of the investigation should make the outcome public.
“FAAN needs to ensure that such an occurrence does not happen again. Aviation security is paramount to the development of the industry and now that new heads are coming in to pilot the affairs of the sector, I do hope they will take a look at that and devise a way of preventing future occurrence.”
For the General Secretary, Aviation Round Table (ART), Mr Olumide Ohunayo, the Lagos airport is too busy and sensitive to allow the runway lights issue to linger on for so long without solution.
Lamenting how the investigation into the disappearance of the cable lights was unnecessarily delayed by FAAN, many months after the incident was exposed, Ohunayo cautioned that the Lagos airport is too important to be left without an alternate runway, stressing that the airlines spend more to taxi from the domestic runway to the international terminal.
“As they continue with their investigation, which is overtly delayed, I think they should begin to put things in place to prevent recurrence and also punish those whose duty was supposed to ensure that it didn’t happen in the first place.
“We are still waiting for them to provide the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera footage. I also think there is the need to increase patrol, there is a need to ensure that there is extra security at the airside,” he said.
“Lagos airport is a high revenue one for FAAN and that should have been a priority for FAAN to install the instrument. If the international airlines now start to taxi to the international runway from the local, that will add to the cost of their operations and it will be passed to the passengers.
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